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August 08, 2007

Interview with Senator John Edwards

As you know, No Impact Man as a project asks the question, "What can I, as an individual, do to help the planet?" And I believe strongly that individual action is important, but I don't believe it replaces political action. I believe the two are complimentary and strongest when they come together. For that reason, my colleagues Jessica Osserman, Devon Bertram and I have been reaching out to major presidential candidates of all parties to ask them to participate in a series of email interviews to do with environmentalism. For comparison purposes, each of the candidates will be asked to answer the same questions. Here is the first of candidate replies, from Senator John Edwards.

1.Do you support an 80% reduction
in carbon emissions by 2050? If so, do you agree that a 40 MPG fuel
efficiency standard and a moratorium on building coal-fueled power plants
are necessary, or do you have alternative plans? If not, what should
our goals be and how do you intend to accomplish them?

Global warming is the most important environmental challenge of our
lifetime. That’s why I am proud that I was the first presidential
candidate to offer a detailed plan for halting global warming that includes
an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. I am glad
that some of the other candidates have followed me in adopting this
call for change.

In order to achieve that level of emissions reduction, we are going
to have to raise automotive fuel-efficiency standards significantly
in this country. I have called for increasing fuel economy standards
to 40 miles per gallon by 2016. That would single-handedly reduce oil
demand by 4 million barrels per day. As president, I will invest one
billion dollars into making sure that we make the most fuel efficient
cars on the planet here in the United States, with union workers. We
can do it by investing in new technologies like hybrid and plug-in hybrid
cars, ultra-light materials, and hydrogen fuel cells.

I also support a national ban on the construction of all new coal-fired
power plants that cannot capture their emissions. America will rely
on its coal resources for decades or longer, and we need to find a way
to use them without heating the planet. I am committed to investing
$1 billion a year in research and testing to jumpstart the means to
store large amounts of carbon dioxide safely underground. New coal-fired
plants should be built with the required technology so that plants built
today will be able to permanently and safely store their carbon emissions
tomorrow.

2. A number of polls have suggested that American citizens may not
be willing to make lifestyle sacrifices to support environmental improvements.
Do you think significant lifestyle changes (like driving much less)
may ultimately be necessary and if so how would you convince Americans
to accept them?

I’ve seen with my own eyes what Americans can do when called to action.
In January, my campaign asked supporters to join our One Corps National
Day of Energy Action. All across the country, members of One Corps –
the community service arm of our campaign – took action and worked
on community service activities including weatherizing homes and distributing
energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs.

That is just the beginning. It’s time to ask the American people to
be patriotic about something other than war. Our generation must be
the one that says ‘yes’ to alternative, renewable fuels and ends
forever our dependence on foreign oil. Our generation must be the one
that accepts responsibility for conserving natural resources -- and
both demands and develops the tool to do it. Our generation must be
the one that says, ‘we must halt global warming.’ If we don’t
act now, if we don’t seize this moment, it will be too late.

I have a plan to meet the demand for more electricity in the next decade
through efficiency, instead of producing more power. Americans can get
more power out of the electricity now available, typically at half the
cost of producing more supply.

There are large energy savings possible today in energy generation,
transmission, and use in homes, factories, and offices. I have called
for a national goal of meeting our expected rise in electricity demand
by getting more power out of the electricity we use now for the next
decade.

To accomplish this ambitious goal, we need to make efficiency profitable
for utilities. Most utilities profit from selling electricity, even
when it would be cheaper to help their customers use less energy. As
president, I will call on states to decouple utilities' energy profits
from sales, as California and nine other states have done, so they can
focus on serving customer needs. States can also reward utilities for
meeting green energy targets.

I support expanding smart meters and smart grids to help consumers use
energy more wisely. By displaying energy use and its price as it is
used, smart meters encourage consumers to use less energy and to use
it when it can be generated less expensively. Utilities can also use
information technology to monitor electricity demand, allowing them
to plan their production more efficiently.

3.Some environmentalists are concerned that, with carbon emissions
dominating dialogue on conservation, other issues may be ignored. What
is your second environmental priority after global warming and what
do you intend to do about it?

Stopping global warming is my highest environmental priority, but after
eight years of the Bush Administration there will be a lot of work to
do. In my first year, I will work to reverse every harmful environmental
executive order and regulation issued by the Bush administration. I
will submit legislation strengthening the Clean Air and Clean Water
Acts and restoring the “polluter pays” principle in the Superfund.

4. A number of environmental thinkers have suggested that continued
growth in GDP (and the implied growth in resources) and solving our
environmental crisis are at odds with each other. Do you think growth
in GDP and environmental sustainability are at odds with each other?
Does there need to be a choice between economic growth and commitment
to our environment? If so, how do you negotiate between these two priorities?
If not, how do you see this inter-relationship?

Securing our environmental future will not require shortchanging our
economic one. In fact, the opposite is true. Right now, our economic
progress is threatened by rising energy prices and our dependence on
unstable regions for fuel. Pursuing sound environmental and energy policy
will actually drive the economy, rather than limiting it.

I have no doubt that with the right leadership, we will create a New
Energy Economy right here in America. We’re going to create new jobs.
We’re going to build the cars of the future here. And I am convinced
that it is going to create new opportunities for all kinds of Americans
– bring the family farms back to life – create new high-paying “green
collar” jobs making and installing clean energy technology – and
new opportunities for innovators and entrepreneurs.

I will create a New Energy Economy Fund by auctioning off $10 billion
in greenhouse pollution permits and repealing subsidies for big oil
companies. The fund will support U.S. research and development in energy
technology, help entrepreneurs start new businesses, and help Americans
conserve energy.

One of my concerns is that the economic benefits from transforming our
economy be distributed fairly. What’s happened in this country over
the last generation over the entire economy is the growth has gone into
the hands of a privileged few. Over the last 20 years, about 40 percent
of the economic growth has gone to the top 1 percent.

If you care, the way I do, about the bringing the Two Americas that
I’ve talked about together and building One America, then we have
to make sure that doesn’t happen with the jobs and wealth I know we
can create from clean energy.

I have a plan to open up how we provide electricity in America to create
more competition and more options. What we have now is we have centrality;
big power companies that make more money, the more power we use. What
we want to do is spread and create more competition. Decentralize these
power grids, allow community groups, smaller communities, grassroots
organizations to compete and drive down prices.

I believe we have the ability to harness American ingenuity to stop
global warming. But if all we do is replace oil tycoons with green tycoons,
we will have missed an opportunity to help build One America – where
everyone has a chance to succeed.

5. What kind of car do you drive or travel in and how many MPG does
it get?

My family drives two cars—a Ford Escape
Hybrid that gets a combined 30 miles per gallon, and, for times when
we need to transport more people, a Chrysler Pacifica, that gets 19
miles per gallon combined.

Photo by Rachel Feierman

PS If you enjoyed this post, please let more readers
know about it by linking to it on your own blog or using the links below to
email it around, favorite it on Technorati, Dig it, list it on del.icio.us or
Stumble it. Thanks!

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Interview with Senator John Edwards

As you know, No Impact Man as a project asks the question, "What can I, as an individual, do to help the planet?" And I believe strongly that individual action is important, but I don't believe it replaces political action. I believe the two are complimentary and strongest when they come together. For that reason, my colleagues Jessica Osserman, Devon Bertram and I have been reaching out to major presidential candidates of all parties to ask them to participate in a series of email interviews to do with environmentalism. For comparison purposes, each of the candidates will be asked to answer the same questions. Here is the first of candidate replies, from Senator John Edwards.

1.Do you support an 80% reduction
in carbon emissions by 2050? If so, do you agree that a 40 MPG fuel
efficiency standard and a moratorium on building coal-fueled power plants
are necessary, or do you have alternative plans? If not, what should
our goals be and how do you intend to accomplish them?

Global warming is the most important environmental challenge of our
lifetime. That’s why I am proud that I was the first presidential
candidate to offer a detailed plan for halting global warming that includes
an 80 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. I am glad
that some of the other candidates have followed me in adopting this
call for change.

In order to achieve that level of emissions reduction, we are going
to have to raise automotive fuel-efficiency standards significantly
in this country. I have called for increasing fuel economy standards
to 40 miles per gallon by 2016. That would single-handedly reduce oil
demand by 4 million barrels per day. As president, I will invest one
billion dollars into making sure that we make the most fuel efficient
cars on the planet here in the United States, with union workers. We
can do it by investing in new technologies like hybrid and plug-in hybrid
cars, ultra-light materials, and hydrogen fuel cells.

I also support a national ban on the construction of all new coal-fired
power plants that cannot capture their emissions. America will rely
on its coal resources for decades or longer, and we need to find a way
to use them without heating the planet. I am committed to investing
$1 billion a year in research and testing to jumpstart the means to
store large amounts of carbon dioxide safely underground. New coal-fired
plants should be built with the required technology so that plants built
today will be able to permanently and safely store their carbon emissions
tomorrow.

2. A number of polls have suggested that American citizens may not
be willing to make lifestyle sacrifices to support environmental improvements.
Do you think significant lifestyle changes (like driving much less)
may ultimately be necessary and if so how would you convince Americans
to accept them?

I’ve seen with my own eyes what Americans can do when called to action.
In January, my campaign asked supporters to join our One Corps National
Day of Energy Action. All across the country, members of One Corps –
the community service arm of our campaign – took action and worked
on community service activities including weatherizing homes and distributing
energy-efficient compact fluorescent bulbs.

That is just the beginning. It’s time to ask the American people to
be patriotic about something other than war. Our generation must be
the one that says ‘yes’ to alternative, renewable fuels and ends
forever our dependence on foreign oil. Our generation must be the one
that accepts responsibility for conserving natural resources -- and
both demands and develops the tool to do it. Our generation must be
the one that says, ‘we must halt global warming.’ If we don’t
act now, if we don’t seize this moment, it will be too late.

I have a plan to meet the demand for more electricity in the next decade
through efficiency, instead of producing more power. Americans can get
more power out of the electricity now available, typically at half the
cost of producing more supply.

There are large energy savings possible today in energy generation,
transmission, and use in homes, factories, and offices. I have called
for a national goal of meeting our expected rise in electricity demand
by getting more power out of the electricity we use now for the next
decade.

To accomplish this ambitious goal, we need to make efficiency profitable
for utilities. Most utilities profit from selling electricity, even
when it would be cheaper to help their customers use less energy. As
president, I will call on states to decouple utilities' energy profits
from sales, as California and nine other states have done, so they can
focus on serving customer needs. States can also reward utilities for
meeting green energy targets.

I support expanding smart meters and smart grids to help consumers use
energy more wisely. By displaying energy use and its price as it is
used, smart meters encourage consumers to use less energy and to use
it when it can be generated less expensively. Utilities can also use
information technology to monitor electricity demand, allowing them
to plan their production more efficiently.

3.Some environmentalists are concerned that, with carbon emissions
dominating dialogue on conservation, other issues may be ignored. What
is your second environmental priority after global warming and what
do you intend to do about it?

Stopping global warming is my highest environmental priority, but after
eight years of the Bush Administration there will be a lot of work to
do. In my first year, I will work to reverse every harmful environmental
executive order and regulation issued by the Bush administration. I
will submit legislation strengthening the Clean Air and Clean Water
Acts and restoring the “polluter pays” principle in the Superfund.

4. A number of environmental thinkers have suggested that continued
growth in GDP (and the implied growth in resources) and solving our
environmental crisis are at odds with each other. Do you think growth
in GDP and environmental sustainability are at odds with each other?
Does there need to be a choice between economic growth and commitment
to our environment? If so, how do you negotiate between these two priorities?
If not, how do you see this inter-relationship?

Securing our environmental future will not require shortchanging our
economic one. In fact, the opposite is true. Right now, our economic
progress is threatened by rising energy prices and our dependence on
unstable regions for fuel. Pursuing sound environmental and energy policy
will actually drive the economy, rather than limiting it.

I have no doubt that with the right leadership, we will create a New
Energy Economy right here in America. We’re going to create new jobs.
We’re going to build the cars of the future here. And I am convinced
that it is going to create new opportunities for all kinds of Americans
– bring the family farms back to life – create new high-paying “green
collar” jobs making and installing clean energy technology – and
new opportunities for innovators and entrepreneurs.

I will create a New Energy Economy Fund by auctioning off $10 billion
in greenhouse pollution permits and repealing subsidies for big oil
companies. The fund will support U.S. research and development in energy
technology, help entrepreneurs start new businesses, and help Americans
conserve energy.

One of my concerns is that the economic benefits from transforming our
economy be distributed fairly. What’s happened in this country over
the last generation over the entire economy is the growth has gone into
the hands of a privileged few. Over the last 20 years, about 40 percent
of the economic growth has gone to the top 1 percent.

If you care, the way I do, about the bringing the Two Americas that
I’ve talked about together and building One America, then we have
to make sure that doesn’t happen with the jobs and wealth I know we
can create from clean energy.

I have a plan to open up how we provide electricity in America to create
more competition and more options. What we have now is we have centrality;
big power companies that make more money, the more power we use. What
we want to do is spread and create more competition. Decentralize these
power grids, allow community groups, smaller communities, grassroots
organizations to compete and drive down prices.

I believe we have the ability to harness American ingenuity to stop
global warming. But if all we do is replace oil tycoons with green tycoons,
we will have missed an opportunity to help build One America – where
everyone has a chance to succeed.

5. What kind of car do you drive or travel in and how many MPG does
it get?

My family drives two cars—a Ford Escape
Hybrid that gets a combined 30 miles per gallon, and, for times when
we need to transport more people, a Chrysler Pacifica, that gets 19
miles per gallon combined.

Photo by Rachel Feierman

PS If you enjoyed this post, please let more readers
know about it by linking to it on your own blog or using the links below to
email it around, favorite it on Technorati, Dig it, list it on del.icio.us or
Stumble it. Thanks!